Druid Builds
Return to Character Profile http://www.reddit.com/r/SanctuaryRPG/comments/2rb5lx/geodunes_op_druid_guide/ - Geodune's OP Druid Guide Sonite Ravager Build (v. 2.2.4) This druid build technically only requires VIT, though having some other stats would be rather beneficial as extra defensive measures. The essence of the build is focused around the Reckoning mantra, so this build can be applied to all classes. This specific build however does have some extra advantages. This will tend to speed through much of the combat you have to go through in the game. Character Origin The Sonites have 50% resistance from poison, a temporary max HP boost whenever you heal, and reduce enemy charge damage by 20%. All of these give your druid a few extra defenses; they are rather straightforward, but the 2nd perk(temp max HP boost) can actually remove the effect of the affix, one of the more annoying affixes to deal with. Discipline Out of the three disciplines you can choose from as a druid, the Ravager best fits this build. While the Ravager discipline says that it has 33% chance to freeze on mark, it doesn't really appear to work that way. When you use the move that marks enemies(Rabid Lunge), the freeze effect doesn't seem to ever work. When you use Q Riposte/Ravage however, you do have a chance of freezing the enemy as well as applying mark and bleed, whether or not you are able to deal any damage with it. Stats and Passives As stated previously, you technically only need VIT, but the other stat types can certainly help as well. INT and WIS will help against affix and provide some extra healing, which you will be doing a quite a lot of. Investing in DEX would be good to provide some extra dodging, and STR is rather optional until the Eternal Guardian(Act 5). For passives, you only really need the HP one. The other passives can help in their own way as well, so choose whichever one you think suits best in your situation. Gear So long as it has some VIT, it's gear that you should consider equipping. As a Druid, you take a +5% bonus dmg mitigation for having heavy armor, so you should lean more towards the heavier types of gear. In terms for getting the highest basic attack damage, going for a magic weapon would be good to start, but eventually you should get a heavy weapon. This is because gear with INT will not add to your current damage, only manual allocation in INT will do that. You only need so much MP as well, and the weapon that provides the best bonus damage based on STR are the heavy weapons. There are no specific specials that are paramount to the build, but having an Umbral effect for your weapon would help. Getting Deflecting or Mending for your armor/shield/charm would help. Method The method that can be applied to all classes would be using two keys: 4 Heal and S Reckoning/Refresh Mantra. For this specific one, simply spam Q Riposte/Ravage once you have the Ravager discipline. Probably around 10 times should be good, but you can change the amount how you like. If the enemy is guarding after it's been frozen, use D Freezing Swap and E Adrenal Smash. Alternatively, you can reposition if you don't have the Adrenal Smash talent yet or if you have the Barbarian mercenary(I personally take Paladin mercs), it'll just be broken after some turns. From there on, you alternate between 3 buttons: 4 Heal, S Reckoning/Refresh Mantra, and Q Riposte/Ravage. You don't have to follow that specific order, nor is it required that you press each of them only once before switching. Getting an extra heal can help when you can't quite heal all of Reckoning's damage and are starting to get low. There are certain affixes that can be a bit annoying, like , , , and , since their effects can still apply even while frozen. Still, it only makes the combat drag out a bit longer, since they still can't physically attack while frozen. does remove the use of your Q ability, but since there's no affix that also makes them immune to damage caused by Reckoning, using 4Heal and S Reckoning/Refresh Mantra should be good enough. can be a little annoying as well, more so with added on. Reckoning does not apply any damage if you are blinded(and drunk too I think, but can't be sure about that atm), so you can either engage with your standard combo attacks, heal, and/or riposte until the blinding effect wears off. If a lot of these affixes are all on one enemy, that's when your alternate defenses come into play i.e. block/dodge chance, mercenary special and damage mitigation. The basic heal/reckoning should still be able to work, you simply need to go through a few obstacles before it takes effect. Strengths The damage Reckoning deals can scale much more than your basic attack damage, and because you need to focus on VIT to increase the damage it deals, you also gain more survivability. A lot of the enemy affixes can't even take effect, one of the more notorious ones being , since Riposte and Reckoning don't technically count as direct attacks. So long as the opponent isn't immune to status effects, you can always freeze your enemy(to the point of perma-freeze) with Riposte. Weaknesses Beyond the typical weaknesses of any build in the early game, the only weakness is when you're versing the last boss, the Eternal Guardian. Unless you have unreal VIT(I had 1.4k HP before fighting him and I believe I did about 1% or 2% of his max HP for each turn with Reckoning on) and can one-shot him with Reckoning(or just have a lot of basic attack damage), it can be pretty difficult to fight him. The build works until his last phase, where he perma-blinds and bleeds you. The blinding effect makes Reckoning useless and healing becomes quite a challenge too. Personal Experience I unfortunately died to the Eternal Guardian using this build. I thought I could take on the boss, but I had forgotten that he does indeed perma-blind you. Still thought my heals, riposte, etc. would be enough but sadly wasn't enough. I still felt it was a pretty OP build though, and would certainly try it out again. I also have a screenshot of what I had about 4 or so levels before I died: Not sure if the image is clear or not, but I found my weapon from a gift box, handcrafted my armor and charm, and found my shield from a random monster drop. Category:Builds Category:Druid Category:Class